Strategic Pillar 4: Strengthen Resources to Fulfill Mission

We must take bold steps forward to retain and develop a strong faculty, staff, and Board of Trustees; diversify and expand income streams beyond revenue generated through tuition; and significantly enhance technology and campus facilities. Through plant and technology investments, the University conveys that it is a quality institution focused on the student of the future; this will create an aesthetic experience for students that will strengthen enrollment and contribute to marketing efforts. Strong and effective governance will be more important than ever to address the challenges Holy Family University and all universities will face as society rebounds from the COVID-19 crisis and addresses significant issues around racial justice and equity. Telling our authentic story grounded in the commitment to “Family” will support new and stronger fundraising, contribute to the growth of annual giving, enhance the attraction of new students, and focus on marketing strategy.

A. We will brand the distinct and transformative aspects of a Holy Family University education to distinguish the “Culture of Family” through stronger alumni engagement, financial support, and recruitment of new students.

• Create new programs that cultivate all students to be supportive of the University while they are here and to be engaged and lifelong supporters of the University as alumni.
• Engender alumni pride in the University and foster lifelong loyalty, in part through foundational experiences that recognize and affirm alumni and provide opportunities to celebrate alumni accomplishments. Celebrate and communicate how the University is adding value to the degrees it already conferred.
• Identify and build upon opportunities that offer the best chance to bring students and alumni together for mutually satisfying outcomes that might include networking, mentoring, and other shared events for interaction, celebration, and collaboration.
• Establish an innovative outreach program to build the donor base at every level, re-engage disconnected alumni and increase trustee involvement as ambassadors and friend-raisers.
• Grow the University’s annual fund to a percentage of the University operating budget that is consistent with industry standards.
• Ensure the University becomes “campaign ready” so that the necessary resources to implement the strategic vision can be secured.
• Seek financial support for endowed professorships, deanships, and chairs to provide additional support for teaching and research.

B. We will strengthen and expand data driven decision-making and transparency.

• Build institutional capacity for collecting data needed for analysis and decision-making and use data strategically in all significant university decisions.
• Build HFU capacity to employ data in creating a culture of continuous improvement.
• Ensure data reliability and quality as well as use of standard definitions and calculation methods; enhance data visualization capacity for clarity and to promote transparency.

C. We will enhance faculty, staff, and trustee excellence.

• Annually allocate professional development funds sufficient to support faculty and staff in expanding their knowledge and skills in strategically identified areas.
• Identify and support attendance in key leadership development programs for faculty and staff.
• Invest in Board development to ensure best practices in governance and advancing trustees’ knowledge of current higher education issues.
• Increase commitment to faculty scholarship and accelerate faculty engagement of students in their research.
• Establish a program to attract prominent scholars for short-term engagements at the university.

D. We will improve campus facilities to enhance the overall student experience, support academic programming, student life, enrollment, and community involvement.

• Develop a 5-year plan for implementing recommendations from the Master Plan with priority given to student-centered areas including the Dining Hall, lounges, and common areas.
• Research and plan for the “classroom of the future” by establishing standards to be implemented for a variety of classroom types. Consider both on campus and online classroom needs.
• Achieve the optimal level of technology needed for student learning and efficient business operations and allocate annual budget to ensure ongoing support.
• Focus on “curb appeal” that conveys the strength of the University and reflects its Catholic heritage.
• Identify ways to develop new sources of income from campus facilities through increased community access.

E. We will strengthen Holy Family University’s leadership through best-practice governance.

• Establish best practices for board committees and support the governance committee to strengthen the Board through future appointments, evaluations, and best practices.
• Strengthen the ways in which Board will be engaged in strategic and innovative conversations in partnership with the administration to move the University forward.
• Engage the faculty more fully in their governance structures to incentivize innovative thinking around curriculum, faculty service to the external community, and around major campus issues.
• Involve students in an appropriate way to incorporate their voices on board and faculty committees.
• Ensure that all governance bodies apply “lessons learned” from the recent global pandemic, the global response to racial injustice and inequity, and any future transformative dynamic in their deliberations around educational and administrative policies
• and practice.

F. We will support all the initiatives in this plan through a carefully designed marketing and communications plan.

• Re-imagine and implement a new public image of Holy Family University through the lens of our commitment to a Culture of Family as a point of differentiation and distinction.
• Strategically market Holy Family University as a high-quality, affordably priced, relationship-driven institution that prepares students for meaningful lives and careers.
• Promote the strengths and attributes of the faculty and their teaching, research, and expertise; our campus-community connections; our relationships with a strong alumni network through integrated messaging campaigns.